Do You Notice Me
by GellsBells
Summary: Prompt Fill - What if Jughead wasn't the one who initiated their first kiss? What if it were Betty? Write me a story exploring Betty's growing feelings for Juggie and her deciding what to do with those feelings.


Betty Cooper had a problem.

Jughead Jones.

He hadn't started out as a problem. Quite the opposite to be exact but he had fast become one. Betty, after the disaster that was admitting her feelings for Archie had wanted something uncomplicated. She wasn't looking for romance, or longing looks or fantasies about removing a certain crown shaped beanie and running her fingers through what she imagined were soft, dark waves.

No.

She wanted to solve a murder, find her sister, maybe reconnect with an old friend. Not… this.

She found herself watching him without meaning to. It was almost like she was seeing him again for the first time. They had been friends for so long it was almost like she had missed him growing up. But she was noticing him now.

But now instead of simply accepting that Jughead was a boy with a beanie she began to wonder what was underneath. Ever since she had known him he had worn that beanie, a security blanket of types. She knew what it was like to put up a barrier between yourself and the rest of the world.

That's what her pastel pink sweaters and perfectly curled pony tail was. Something that she presented to the rest of the world a careful concealment of a part of her that was becoming more and more dominant. As if the darkness that was now consuming the small town had taken her down with it.

She had started to notice him, really notice him, that night at Pop's. After once again managing to subdue that darker, wilder part of herself in her confrontation with Cheryl she had made up with Veronica as they headed to Pop's. She noted how different he looked her first time really seeing him since the summer break and he looked 'older'. He was no longer that scrawny kid that they hung out with in Archie's tree house sipping lemonade made by Mrs Andrews. He had grown up. She had smiled shyly at him when he hopped into the booth opposite her and he returned her smile with a subtle raise of his eyebrows as he stole a sip of her milkshake. Something that he had always done since they were kids. His eyes challenged her to stop him but she just leant back in her seat, allowing him to take what he wanted.

It became abundantly clear to everyone in that booth that night how enamoured Archie Andrews was with new girl Veronica Lodge. Betty knew that the pain that she felt now would lessen. Stepping back now she could see how her 'crush' on Archie, and it was just that, had been a long held childhood fantasy of hers. She had seen them as that power couple. The high school jock and the girl next door looked so good on paper. But in reality Archie had only eyes for Veronica.

The little looks that Jughead sent her did not go unnoticed by her. Small, shy smiles. Kind eyes. And for a brief and fleeting moment she found herself wishing that she was on the other side of the booth next to him, sharing their own private jokes together as they had when they were children. As they had before she went away for the summer.

"I can wait out here until your mom gets here." Jughead said from behind her as they had stood out the front of Pop's watching Archie and Veronica leave together. His hands were shoved in his jacket pockets as he glanced at her, kicking some stones at his feet. She thought about the expression on her mom's face if she turned up to pick her up at Pop's to find her with Jughead Jones. Alice had made no secret of her disdain for the Jones family as soon as Betty started hanging out with Jughead. She wondered which her mother would be more disapproving of, Jughead or Archie.

"It's okay Juggie, she'll be here soon." He gave her a quick nod before he returned inside to the booth that they had been sitting at. She watched him pull out his laptop and begin to type, the waitress already putting down another cup of steaming hot coffee. A loud beep tore her away from her observations as her mom leaned over to the passenger side's window telling her to hurry up and get in the car. She stole one more glance before she made her way to the old station wagon.

In reality she hadn't expected him to say yes when she asked him to help her resurrect the Blue and Gold. He was right, writing for the school paper wasn't really his scene. So she had batted her eyelashes and pouted her lips slightly. It wasn't the first and it probably wouldn't be the last time that she used this tactic on him. She knew by his heavy sigh and slumping of his shoulders that she had won and eagerly agreed to his conditions.

It felt somewhat familiar being the sleuthing duo of Riverdale High. It reminded her of the time the summer before last where Archie had gone off to football camp and the three musketeers had become a reluctant two. They spent their days at Pop's Betty reading her book on one side of the booth while Jughead furiously typed on his laptop while Betty occasionally would try to steal a look. Jughead would quickly turn the screen away from her prying eyes not yet ready to share what he was working on. Betty would _hmph_ and then skip to the counter to get them another round of milkshakes ignoring the voices in her head of Alice Cooper and Cheryl Blossom that she shoud make better choices if she wanted to succeed. Jughead never said anything.

She hadn't expected him to say yes to finding Polly. She reasoned that it was because he was committed to finding out who killed Jason and Polly was a key part to the mystery. She had expected him to turn and run when she suggested that he came to breakfast so that she could get a good look at her mum'scheckbook. No-one voluntarily put themselves in the same room as her mother. But he had. Giving her a final pleading look as Alice Cooper led him from the breakfast table, his eyes lingering on the cooked breakfast he was leaving behind.

He had offered to travel with her to see Polly. She could have gone on her own, even Archie offered to go with her and she had turned him away. The Betty of a few weeks ago wouldn't have even given Archie's offer a second thought accepting immediately. Betty liked to think that she had changed since that night at the dance. She had grown up.

Her eyes continued to drift over to him during the bus ride to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. He stared out the window, his eyes flicking between the trees and buildings as they passed them. Her heart stopped as they set foot off the bus and the building came into view. A home for wayward teens, it looked more like an insane asylum. She could feel the tears already beginning to well. Shutting her eyes to try and keep them at bay. She felt his hands on her shoulders turning him to face her. She opened her eyes and was met by the intensity of his own green ones.

"We are going to get her out of here Betts." She nodded. His eyes narrowed waiting for her more convicted response.

"We are going to get her out." She repeated as he gave her shoulders a final squeeze and Betty thought that maybe he was going to pull her into an embrace, before he let go. She took a deep sigh, straightened her shoulders and pulled her ponytail that much tighter as they stepped towards the building.

She needed to see him. After the events of the day before and her conversation with her parents she needed to talk to someone and where her mind would previously have thought of Kevin or Archie there was now a new name coming to mind Jughead. She waited until her mom and dad left the home for the register. Before she snuck out. She had texted him already asking to meet her at the Blue and Gold.

Her hand was shaking a little as she turned the handle and was relieved to see him already there. She was reminded of the way that he had tried to reach out to her and her sister at the Sister's, held back by one of the porters. It had been an unpleasant car ride back to Riverdale to say the least. Betty sitting in the front passenger seat her mother stopping her from getting in the back of the car with him. A pointed look telling her not to test her any further and Betty knew that she would be wise to heed her mother's warning.

"Betts." He breathed out as he saw her and Betty paused briefly at the door before she shut it behind her. He was by her side by the time the door had shut his hand on her arm in what she took as a gesture of concern and nothing more.

"Jug, I'm sorry about yesterday. I shouldn't have dragged you into this." She removed herself from his grip and sat up on one of the old desks.

Jughead followed her across the room, leaning against her perch. "I volunteered." He reminded her. She looked down his hand was resting against the desk so close to her own hand. She thought about moving the last few inches to touch her fingers against his own to see if he would pull back. Whether he would look at her in confusion at her actions or jerk his hand away. She had been burned once this school year and was not so sure she was keen to be burned again.

"I shouldn't have told her about Jason." She pulled her hand to her lap removing it from temptation. Jughead jumped up to sit beside her on the desk. Eliminating the distance that she had just put between them.

"You needed to Betts. Otherwise you wouldn't be any better than your parents. She deserved to know especially because -"

"Of the baby." Betty whispered. She was still in shock that her sister was pregnant. That she was going to be an auntie. That new life growing inside her sister had already lost their father. She wouldn't let her parents take away their mother as well.

"Yeah."

"I asked my dad." She looked up from her lap to meet his eyes. "About whether he killed Jason."

"And?"

"He didn't. But they're crazy Juggie, both of them. And Polly, the way she was talking. She sounded crazy. Maybe I'm-"

"Hey." His hand was on her shoulder, a soothing rubbing motion. Not unlike how he had back at the Sister's. "All our parents are crazy." A small smile across his lips brought a little comfort to her and she realised she was now staring at his lips.

It wasn't the first time she had found herself in this position in the Blue and Gold office since they had started their investigation into the murder of Jason Blossom. She had imagined closing the distance between them as he leant over her shoulder watching her as she would carefully edit one of his articles or as they sat together on the old desk both looking at the 'murder board' as if there was something there that they were both missing. He would stare at the board and Betty would sneak glances at him as he pulled his bottom lip in concentration. Or occasionally twisted that one curl that always managed to find it's way out of the confines of the gray woollen beanie on top of his head.

There was that voice in her head holding her back. Telling her that it was all in her head. Those gestures of comfort, those shy smiles, the private jokes, all of it was just her imagination. They were friends was it really something that she wanted to jeopardise just like she had her friendship with Archie because she couldn't keep her emotions in check. She had been trying to analyse him. See if there was something there, whether he was feeling anything for her. She had run through his comment about her and Trevor's date a million times.

 _'You just called it a date.'_ Was he jealous? Curious? Perhaps concerned that she was putting herself out there again after just having her heart stomped all over by their friend. He had said it so casually that she couldn't read into it further. She looked for signs and yet Jughead Jones was a closed book that she desperately wanted to read.

"Juggie." She whispered. Her hand moved to his arm and she felt him still slightly under her touch and she thought about pulling back, backing out completely. "Thank you." She pressed a kiss to his cheek. She pulled herself back to examine his reaction as he turned to face her. His eyes searching hers his expression as always unreadable to her.

She leant in again, this time pressing her lips against his. They were warm and soft against her own. She heard his breath hitch as she moved her lips against his waiting for him to respond. She thought for a moment that she had messed up. She had altered another friendship through the complications of her own emotions. She went to pull back from the kiss, but his hand on the back of her head stopped her as he kept her in place as he finally began to return her kiss in earnest.

She sighed into the kiss as their mouths explored one another. This kiss was different to the one she had shared with Archie when they were still kids playing. Different to the one she had shared with Brad during her internship in Los Angeles at the carnival. It was as if every part of her body was on edge, every sense was heightened and she could only think of him. Her heart was thundering in her ears as she felt his hand moved from her head to her neck, his thumb brushing against her pulse point as her own hands moved from his arms to his jacket pulling him towards her so that he was closer to her as they both shifted on the desk. She pulled back smiling at him, her grin widening as she noticed that he shared her expression. Was this what her sister had felt when she had first kissed Jason? Before their families had torn them apart, when they were planning their secret get away to -

"The car!" She exclaimed her eyes widening in realisation as her mind tried to catch up to it's own thought while still trapped in the feeling of her kiss with Jughead.

"And I thought we were having a moment here." She met his eyes and thought that she could see a hint of disappointment.

"We were, we are, but Polly said that her and Jason had stashed a car on route 44. Maybe if we can find that car."

"Then we can find some concrete evidence."

"That Polly isn't crazy." Her hands were either side if his face as she kissed his lips again. "To be continued?"

"Most definitely." He replied taking her hand in hers as he pulled her from the desk as they left the Blue and Gold together.

Off to solve a murder, and maybe something more.


End file.
